Revenge-seeking Colorado trio kills 5 in 'coordinated' arson attack – on the wrong home
Colorado man Kevin Bui has pleaded guilty to torching an innocent family's home in the middle of the night, killing five people, including a toddler and a baby, out of revenge for stealing his cellphone – except none of the victims had anything to do with Bui's stolen phone.
Bui was believed to be the ringleader of a trio of murderous arsonists, and used the "Find My iPhone" app to track the location of his stolen phone to the area of the victims' home in 2020, but burned the wrong house, prosecutors said.
The group spent weeks planning the attack, according to the probable cause affidavit, which detailed texts and social media messages, including Bui's Snapchat message: "#possiblyruinourfuturesandburnhishousedown."
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Bui, who was 16 at the time, was the last of three friends to plead guilty to the 2020 quintuple murder, the Denver District Attorney's Office announced on Friday.
As part of the deal, Bui will spend 60 years in prison. In exchange, prosecutors dropped 60 criminal charges.
The blaze killed Djibril "Jibby" Diol, his wife Adja, and their 22-month-old daughter, Khadija, as well as Diol’s sister, Hassan, and her 6-month-old daughter, Hawa Beye.
Three other victims survived by jumping from the second-floor window, but suffered injuries, according to the probable cause affidavit, which detailed the horrifying moments the fire ripped through their home.
Around 2:40 a.m. on Aug. 5, 2020, a Denver police officer saw a crowd outside a burning home.
The responding officer called for backup and broke in by kicking in the front door but was "forced away… due to extreme heat," the affidavit says.
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The officer could see "a small human body approximately three feet inside the front door," according to the affidavit.
He tried to get back inside to save the baby, but "it was apparent that the person was not alive," and was forced back out by the heat.
Firefighters wrestled with the blaze, and made Herculean efforts to rescue anyone in the house, but it was too late.
Five members of the family went to sleep hours earlier and didn't wake up in time to escape. They all died in the house.
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A neighbor's camera caught three suspects wearing hockey masks on video, which was set in night vision, so the colors were reversed.
The suspects in the video wore dark clothing and covered their faces with a white theater or hockey mask.
That was one of three videos mentioned in the affidavit, along with the homeowner's own backyard camera that caught the suspects running from the burning home at 2:38 a.m.
The suspects were seen on surveillance video breaking into the home, pouring gasoline on the living room walls, and lighting the accelerant "in a coordinated" and "planned attack," the affidavit says.
By January 2021, Bui, along with Gavin Seymour and Dillon Siebert, were arrested and charged in connection with the arson and murders.
In total, Bui and Seymour were hit with 60 felonies. Siebert, who was 15 at the time, was charged with 47 felonies. Siebert pleaded guilty first, and was sentenced to three years in a juvenile detention center plus seven more years in state prison.
Seymour pleaded guilty earlier this year and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Bui was the last holdout until last week. He said nothing during Friday's court appearance, according to a report by The Associated Press, which noted Bui sat with his lawyers, hands cuffed in front of him, wearing a green jail uniform.
He'll be formally sentenced on July 2.